- Plans to transform UK fusion include training for over 2000
people, a new fuel cycle testing facility and dedicated funding
to support fusion companies
- £650 million package will help cement UK as world leader in
development of innovative technology
- Nuclear Minister outlined details of the
Fusion Futures Programme at key international conference
Thousands of people across the UK will have the chance to train
for careers in innovative fusion technology, under Government
plans unveiled today [Monday 16 October].
Speaking at the IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, Nuclear Minister
set out details of the new
£650 million Fusion Futures Programme – part of the UK’s updated
Fusion Strategy.
Measures include the creation of more than 2,200 training places
across the country, a new fuel cycle testing facility to focus on
commercialising the technology and funding to develop
infrastructure for private fusion companies.
This includes growing and improving the UK Atomic Energy
Authority’s (UKAEA) dedicated campus in Culham, Oxfordshire,
recently visited by Energy Secretary , which will help drive
further investment.
Fusion could generate a near unlimited supply of clean
electricity in the long-term, and its development in the UK will
help to create jobs, grow the economy, and strengthen the
country’s energy security – delivering a cleaner energy system
that will benefit future generations.
The UK is already a world leader in fusion technology and is well
placed to share its knowledge and expertise around the globe.
This Government support will further cement that position, with
the £650 million spending outlined today taking the total
Government investment in fusion to over £1.4 billion since 2021.
Speaking at the IAEA Fusion Energy Conference 2023,
Minister for Nuclear and Networks, , said:
“With world-leading scientific talent and expertise based here in
the UK, we have a golden opportunity to be at the cutting-edge of
fusion and lead the way in its commercialisation as the ultimate
clean energy source.
“The Fusion Futures Programme, backed by £650 million, will be at
the core of delivering this, training thousands of people across
the country and ensuring we have the best possible facilities to
develop this exciting new technology.”
CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA),
Professor Sir Ian Chapman, said:
“Delivering fusion power will require ideas to solve science and
engineering challenges, involvement of industry partners,
development of thousands of skilled people and strong
international partnerships.
“Fusion Futures will invest in all of these aspects – a truly
concerted programme that will support economic growth and
high-quality jobs as well as advancing fusion as part of a future
sustainable energy mix.”
The £650 million funding for the Fusion Futures Programme will
include:
- Up to £200 million for a Fuel Cycle Testing Facility, to
develop technology in breeding fuel for fusion power plants,
which will provide opportunities for the UK to become a world
leader and exporter in tritium intellectual property;
- Up to £200 million for vital R&D ensuring industry can
develop and design components for future fusion powerplants;
- Up to £50 million for growing and improving the Culham campus
in Oxfordshire, building new premises to create vibrant
concentrations of fusion companies, and helping drive inward
investment into the UK;
- Up to £55 million for a Fusion Skills Programme, to train
over 2,200 people over the next five years by working with
business and universities to expand fusion training programmes;
- Up to £35 million additional funding for the Fusion Industry
Programme (FIP), a challenge fund supporting UK companies to
develop new technologies;
- Up to £25 million to enhance international collaborations on
fusion R&D, to export UK expertise and make best use of
global knowledge to accelerate fusion energy;
- Up to £18 million for a Technology Transfer Hub,
strengthening connections between the UK’s leading research
organisations and other programmes worldwide, with a focus on
commercialising fusion research;
- Up to £11 million to further support the STEP programme and
upskill UK industry to help deliver it.
Today’s announcement follows confirmation from the Government in
September of its plans to put in place an ambitious suite of new
research and development programmes to support the UK’s fusion
sector and strengthen international collaboration.
The programme aligns with the core principle of international
collaboration in the UK’s updated Fusion Strategy, also published
today. The UK remains open to collaboration with the EU
and other international partners, and this will form a key
part of this new programme of work.
The fusion process involves heating a mix of two forms of
hydrogen to extreme temperatures, 10 times hotter than the core
of the Sun, causing them to fuse together to create helium and
release huge amounts of energy.
The energy created can be used to generate electricity in the
same way as existing power stations. Fusion is many million times
more efficient, per kilogram, than burning coal, oil or gas.
